Lots of changes to report. First, I have a new easel. Kimberly found a great looking tall easel (pictures to come later) at an antique store. Now I can do big paintings without having to turn them on their sides.

Second, I'm moving out of the basement....mostly. My new easel won't fit in my cave-like dwelling, so I'll be working in the dining room, with lots more light. Don't know if I'll change the name of my blog.

Third, I have an Etsy site where I have art for sale. If you go over a little to the right and down, you'll see a few of my favorite links. One of them will take you right to my Etsy store.

As if to signal my move to a sunnier spot, I did this painting of two bluebirds sharing some berries. I wrestle a lot with the color yellow. It's hard to get a color that's not too bright, but not too gold. I think I like what I managed.

I actually started this painting months ago. I didn't like the original background color, which was a really harsh yellow, so I tried a sort of fig, or brown, color. That did little to please me, so I set aside this painting to try again later.

Someone recently mentioned to me about an artist who works with stain glass. One of his pieces is of birds on a wire. I was then reminded of my incomplete painting of birds on a wire. When I set the painting on the easel it seemed obvious to me: paint the background blue.

The Business Journal today held its annual Women in Business Awards ceremony. One of my bird paintings, which I have titled, "Red Bird on Green," was raffled. The winner was Heather from a biotech firm in Winston-Salem. Since she might not want her name and employer on the Internet, I'm leaving it at that.

The reviews of the painting were overwhelmingly positive and I was both relieved and thrilled. In fact, I was asked by a couple of women in attendance to do a painting for each of them. I believe that's called being commissioned.